Secrets and Love
by Harmony Delaceur
Summary: Ludwig's first day at Gakuen High brings him face to face with the pretty Felicia, a stunning girl with many secrets. But Ludwig has just as many secrets. Both are the victims of the school's most notorious bullies. Felicia and Ludwig need each other more than they may know. WARNING: FEMS USED IN THIS STORY. Also, rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

Ludwig Beilschmidt walked hesitantly through the front door of his new high school, looking around as he entered the crowded halls. His steps faltered as he came to a stop, feeling slightly overwhelmed. It was his first day at Gakuen High School after he and his brother had moved in with his grandfather.

"Come on, little bro!" Gilbert Beilschmidt's red eyes gleamed as he ruffled Ludwig's hair. Ludwig backed away from the petting, scowling a bit as he brushed his previously slicked back hair back off his face.

"Don't be so immature, Gilbert, you're a senior. We have to make a good first impression." Ludwig said, looking up at his brother.

"Damn right I'm a senior!" Gilbert laughed, red eyes gleaming out from under white hair. The albino student looked ready to dance around his brother.

"You must be Gilbert and Ludwig Beilschmidt." A sudden voice said, and the two boys looked up to see a tall man with very curly dark hair and amber eyes. "My name is Roma Vargas; I am the principal here at Gakuen High. Welcome to one of the most racially diverse schools in the world. Please come with me to receive your schedules."

Ludwig dragged his brother along after Mr. Vargas, ignoring the albino's protests and wanting to sightsee. They got their schedules quickly, and soon found themselves standing outside the principal's office, each with a map and schedule in hand. Ludwig felt a thrill of nerves in his stomach as he looked up at his brother.

"You'll be alright, Lud~" Gilbert said, flashing his signature cocky grin at his brother before heading off down the hall. "See you later, little bro!"

"J-Ja…" Ludwig said, watching his brother go. Then the blond looked down at his map and schedule, heading uncertainly off down the hall, subtly examining the other students out of the corner of his eye as he went.

He made it to his first class just before the bell rang, and then just kind of froze for a moment, eyes surveying the class before him. It was almost full, and Ludwig had absolutely no idea where he was supposed to sit. The bell rang and, just before the teacher entered, a short, black haired student stood. The student approached Ludwig rather warily, and stopped a few feet away.

"Kunnichiwa." The student said, almond shaped eyes looking up as he gave a small bow. "My name is Kiku Honda. Please follow me; there is an empty seat next to mine."

"Thank you." Ludwig said, following the Japanese student and sitting in the desk beside him. Kiku gave a small nod.

At that moment the teacher, Mr. Hesse, came sweeping into the classroom, closing the door behind him. The teacher took role and leapt quickly into the lesson, thankfully without making Ludwig get up in front of the class and introduce himself. However, the lesson didn't get very far at all before the classroom door opened and a latecomer dashed in.

"Ah." The teacher said dryly as the student came to a halt, panting lightly. "Late again I see, Felicia." He said as the class tittered.

"Mi dispiace, I'm sorry." The student, a girl, said. She straightened, and Ludwig's breath caught in his throat.

She was, to put it simply, very pretty. She had long red hair plaited into two braids and honey colored eyes framed by long eyelashes. Her backpack was clutched to her chest, a strange little curl was free from the braids, hanging by her ear, and her pale skin was flushed pink on her cheeks both from running and embarrassment. Even in the four words she had spoken, her voice was musical, lyrical, and laced with a wonderful Italian accent.

Ludwig shook his breath, tearing his eyes away from the girl. It was not like him to get so caught up over seeing an attractive girl, or to use such words in his head to describe her. Instead, he looked down at the open notebook on his desk.

"Just go sit down." Mr. Hesse said in a vaguely exasperated tone as the class laughed again, and Ludwig could hear the girl's school issued shoes shuffling across the ground as she slunk to her seat, clear in the back corner of the classroom. Only then did Ludwig look back up to the front of the classroom, pen poised over his notebook.

Once class ended, the class spilled out into the hall, and Ludwig took his time packing his stuff, not wanting to fight the throng of students that were filing through the hall.

"Hi! Are you new?" The pretty girl, Felicia, if Ludwig recalled correctly, was suddenly standing in front of him, a bright smile on her face.

"J-Ja." Ludwig said loudly, and then blushed a bit when he saw her flinch. "Sorry…" he muttered, and then extended a hand to her. "I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt."

She took his hand delicately with her own small one and smiled sweetly up at him. "I'm Felicia." She said, before pulling her hand away and skipping out the door.

Ludwig shook his head; feeling slightly dazed, and then hefted his backpack and headed to his next class.

The rest of the day passed rather quickly and, though Ludwig kept his eyes open, he did not see the redheaded Felicia again. It almost felt like the Italian had disappeared. At lunch, however, he did see Gilbert, sitting at a table with a wavy haired blonde Frenchman and a dark curly headed Spanish woman. The three were laughing hysterically, and Ludwig smiled. At least his brother had made some friends.

At the end of the school day, as Ludwig was making his way towards the front of the school, the sound of students jeering and a high, panicked voice made him turn. Three students had someone, a girl by the sound of it, backed into a corner. Ludwig frowned, heading towards the source of the commotion, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"I know what you're thinking, Lud." Gilbert said in a low voice. "That's Natalya, Sadiq, and Ivan. Francis and Isabel told me that those three aren't people you want as your enemies. Apparently they can make your life hell."

Ludwig turned and looked at his brother. "Gil, they might be hurting a girl…" he said in an equally low voice.

Gilbert shook his head. "It isn't worth it, Ludwig." He said quietly.

The girl, Natalya, shifted slightly to one side, just enough for Ludwig to see their unfortunate victim. He caught a glimpse of red hair and honey eyes that were wide in fear, and his stomach dropped. "That's Felicia!" he said, and pulled away from Gilbert's hand, heading towards the commotion with angry strides.

Before he could reach it, however, there was suddenly someone barging through the people watching and jumping protectively in front of Felicia. He had dark red hair and blazing green eyes, and was obviously Felicia's brother. The boy yelled angrily at the Sadiq, Natalya, and Ivan, his face going red in rage and a litany of Italian falling from his lips. The three tormentors only laughed and stepped closer, jeering voices rising and forcing Felicia's brother against the wall beside his sister.

"That's enough!" Ludwig yelled as he headed over. His voice held enough authority that the three looked around in nervousness for a moment before realizing that it had not been a teacher, only a fellow student. Then Ivan, the tallest of them all, stepped forward, tugging his scarf into place and a sinister grin appearing on his face.

"You must be new, da?" Ivan smirked, stepping even closer to Ludwig, who stood his ground despite the strong urge to run away. "Obviously you don't know how things work here."

"I don't need to." Ludwig retorted.

Peeking around Ivan, Ludwig could see Felicia's brother pull her to her feet, practically dragging her out of the school without a backwards glance, although Felicia twisted around, her wide, confused honey eyes meeting Ludwig's for a split second before the front door closed.

A sudden hard shove and collision with a wall made Ludwig's attention snap back to the scarf wearing Russian in front of him. The student's violet eyes were narrowed in distaste, lip pulled up in a sneer.

Ludwig refused to rise to the bait, knowing that doing so would only get him in trouble, so he merely turned his back on Ivan and walked away. He swore that he could _feel_ the anger rolling off of the Russian boy, and an involuntary shudder raced down his spine. A pair of rough hands grabbed his shoulders and spun his around, putting him literally nose to nose with Ivan, who looked ready to kill someone.

"Bad move, newbie." Ivan hissed. "Now you have me as an enemy. You're dead now." And with that, Ivan released him, turning on his heel and stalking off. Natalya clung to his arm, sticking her tongue out at Ludwig, and Sadiq merely shook his head, laughing, as he followed the other two off.

Ludwig swore he could feel his heart pounding in his toes, that's how fast it was going. Gilbert put a hand on Ludwig's shoulder, pulling him towards the front of the school.

"What did I tell you, Lud?" Gilbert sighed. "Now those bastards are going to make your life hell, you know that? Especially Ivan. He is one seriously creepy dude."

They headed out into the sunshine, and Gilbert pulled off his blazer, settling his pair of sunglasses on his nose and calling out to the blond Frenchman from lunch. "Oi! Francis!" Gilbert yelled, and the blond senior approached.

"Hey there, Gil!" Francis said, smiling. "This must be your little brother, oui?"

"Ja, this is—hey Lud, who are you looking for?" Gilbert asked, watching his brother peer over the heads of the other students.

"No one." Ludwig said, squinting his eyes slightly as he tried to spot Felicia's red hair in the crowd. However, there was not a trace of the Italian girl to be seen. He couldn't even see Felicia's brother either.

"Ohonhon~" Francis laughed, his eyes lighting up as Ludwig gave up and turned his gaze back to his brother. "I think that Ludwig has a crush~"

"I-I do not!" Ludwig denied what the Frenchman said instantly, using his superior height to glare down at Francis. Gilbert laughed loudly, patting his little brother's arm.

"Nah, Lud doesn't have a crush." Gilbert said confidently. "This kid is way to serious for his own good!"

Ludwig sighed, shaking off his brother's arm and starting forward. "Opa will be angry if we miss the bus." He said, pointing to the line of school buses that were loading up with students and preparing to depart.

"I'm going to hang out with Francis and Isabel. Tell Opa I'll be home by dinner, okay? Danke!" Gilbert as he headed away with Francis, meeting up with the girl with the curly hair in the bun.

"Oh, Bruder…" Ludwig sighed, shaking his head and heading off to the bus.

He boarded the bus and sat gingerly in an empty seat, sitting his backpack on the seat beside him. He slid his battered and much abused iPod out of his backpack and slid the headphones on, leaning his head back against the seat. Turning the music up as loud as it would go, Ludwig tried to forget the fact that he hadn't made any friends on the first day, and now he had to go home to his grandfather, to the oppressive house.

It worked, mostly. Time slid by him smoothly and rather quickly, until he realized that they were coming up on the house he now lived in. He got to his feet and stepped quickly off the bus, making his way up to where he could see Opa standing by the door, long white hair tied back. Ludwig approached the man hesitantly, feeling a foreboding aura practically rolling off the man.

"_Where is your brother_?" Opa snapped in quick German, those steely blue eyes that Ludwig had inherited boring into his own.

"_Gilbert made friends. He said that he would be home by dinner." _Ludwig answered, making sure to keep his voice quiet but clear, lowering his eyes to his grandfather's shoes and keeping them there.

Opa made a tsking sound and turned to head back in the house, the stench of alcohol rolling through the open door and wafting over Ludwig, making him flinch. He barely kept from wrinkling his nose as he followed Opa into the house, removing his shoes just inside the door. Opa was already camped out in his armchair, blurred eyes trained on the television and basically ignoring Ludwig. Which, personally, what Ludwig liked best, is ignored by Opa. Better than the alternative.

Ludwig crept past his Opa and up the stairs, slipping into the room that he and Gilbert shared and sitting down heavily on his bed. Their boxes from the move were still mostly packed, with half of Gilbert's things spilled across the room from the albino's rush to get ready that morning. Ludwig sat cross legged on the bed, balancing his notebook on his knees and the math book nestled on the comforter.

He tried to study, to do his homework, but his mind kept wandering. That girl, Felicia, she had been so scared when those kids had cornered her, but there had been a sort of weary acceptance in her eyes. And the way her brother had known instantly that she needed him, that had obviously happened many times before. Those three students, the Hasser, as Ludwig was calling them in his mind, seemed to have sort of grudge against the Italian siblings, just like they now had a vendetta against Ludwig himself.

Why, though? Felicia didn't look like she could hurt a fly, let alone do anything bad enough to warrant the Hasser's hatred.

One thing was certain, though. No matter what that Frenchie said, Ludwig did _not_ have feelings for her.


	2. Chapter 2

Gilbert returned at about seven in the evening, and Ludwig knew that the albino was unsurprised to see that no dinner had been made, and the guilty crease of his brows told Ludwig that his brother had gone out to eat with those two new friends of his. Ludwig still sat in their room, his homework now completed and a manual in his hands. Gilbert flopped down on his own bed and rolled to his back.

"Here you go, Lud." Gilbert said, tossing a white bag over at Ludwig.

Ludwig caught it easily. "What is it, bruder?" he asked, opening the bag. A second later, the smell of chicken wafted out of the bag, and Ludwig's stomach rumbled. Ludwig pulled out a to go container with grilled chicken, cheesy rice, roasted potatoes, and a plastic fork.

"Mein Gott, Gilbert, you're awesome." Ludwig said, grabbing the fork and taking a bite from the chicken.

Gilbert chuckled. "I know I am, little bro, I'm a beacon of awesome!" The albino laughed loudly.

"Shh!" Ludwig hissed, panic flaring in his stomach for a moment. Gilbert quieted instantly when they heard a muffled groan from downstairs. They waited in tense silence for several wrong moments, hearing nothing.

"Anyway." Ludwig said, taking another bite of food. "I'm going to try to get a job. Anything to get me out of the house, you know? Not to mention that the extra money wouldn't hurt."

"Ja, I agree, Lud." Gilbert said, folding his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. "I'd try too, but—"

"Yeah." Ludwig said. He knew that Prussia couldn't work. He was too much of a goof and couldn't stay serious enough to hold down a job. He knew why Gilbert acted like that when he was with other people, though. He understood. So that always made it okay between them.

Ludwig ate in silence for a moment, letting his mind wander. Gilbert stared at the ceiling, and Ludwig could tell that the albino's mind was basically snow on a television screen for the time being.

Suddenly, however, their bedroom door slammed open, shattering the quiet and making both brothers jump. Gilbert sat up, eyes wide, and Ludwig almost choked on his food. Standing in the doorway, eyes red rimmed and glaring menacingly, was Opa. Ludwig and Gilbert both scrambled to their feet, and the plastic fork went clattering to the ground. Opa's eyes followed the fork, and then shifted slowly up to Ludwig's face. He felt himself go pale, heart thumping.

"_What the fuck are you doing…?" _Opa growled in low German, eyes meeting Ludwig's unflinchingly.

"I was eating." Ludwig said, squaring his shoulders and trying not to look scared. That's what Gilbert had taught him. Don't be afraid, but don't insubordinate either.

Opa stormed towards him, the older man's violent temper unhinged by alcohol and shouting loudly in slurred German, and Ludwig ducked around him, fleeing out of the room and down the stairs, hearing the thud of Opa's feet on the stairs.

Ludwig rushed into the foyer and stopped about two feet from the front door, turning to face Opa as the drunkard came barreling into the foyer, Gilbert following and looking rather fearful, though he did not dare to interfere.

"_GET OUT!"_ Opa all but screamed at Ludwig, and he cringed towards the door, locking eyes with Gilbert. The albino held up three fingers, then made the motion of pushing something up. Ludwig nodded slightly and grabbed his coat before escaping out the front door.

Ludwig jogged at a quick but steady pace away from the house for almost a mile before slowing to a walk as he passed into the town's center. Gilbert told him not to go home for three hours, to make sure Opa was drunk enough not to remember the incident. Then, just to be safe, Gilbert would open a window for him. Now, what was Ludwig going to do for three hours?

With no real plan in mind, he wandered into the town park, pulling his jacket tightly around him to combat the early March chill. Finding a nice bench, Ludwig parked his bottom on it. He sat there for awhile and, slowly, became aware of a sound on the frozen wind. It sounded like someone… crying?

Ludwig frowned, standing and following the sound. There, not ten feet away from the bench he had been sitting on and couched against the base of a tree was a familiar girl. "Felicia?" Ludwig said quietly.

The Italian girl truly was a pathetic sight. She looked half frozen, still dressed in her school jumper, knee socks, and long sleeved dress shirt and without any heavy clothing to combat the winter chill. Her eyes were red rimmed, and her face was stained with tears and her nose running. What caught Ludwig's attention the most was the fresh bruise blossoming across the girl's left cheekbone. She peered up at him with her teary eyes.

"L-Ludwig?" she hiccupped uncertainly, scrubbing at her face with her sleeve.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, extending his hand to her. She took it with frozen fingers and pulled herself to her feet, shivering.

"S-Sì…" she whimpered, lower lip trembling.

"Did someone hurt you…?" Ludwig asked the delicate question, reaching out to touch the beginning bruise on her cheek.

Felicia flinched away from Ludwig's hand before it could make contact. "I-I'm fine." She said. "I was running and I fell, see?" she held out her hands, showing the delicate hands to show skinned palms. "I fell into the tree and bumped my head." The small girl shivered again.

Ludwig shrugged out of his coat and draped it over Felicia's head, and the Italian clutched it, pulling it closer and shivering against the warmth. "Gr-Grazie… but won't you need it?" she asked, those endearing honey eyes looking up at him.

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to go to the movie theatre anyway." Ludwig said rather gruffly, looking away and feeling his cheeks flush slightly.

"Then how will I be able to give you your coat back?" Felicia asked innocently, the red eyes from her crying fading. A sudden idea struck Ludwig, and he couldn't stop the small smile on his lips.

"Well, I guess that you will just have to come with me." He said, smiling faintly down at the Italian girl. "Is that okay?"

Felicia's smile broke across her face so quickly that Ludwig was startled, and she grabbed his hand, trying to pull the much larger Ludwig along with her. Ludwig blushed hard as Felicia's fingers locked with his own as though they belonged there, and moved along with the pretty girl to keep her from trying to drag him.

They got to the movie theatre before long, a fact that Ludwig was very grateful for. He was freezing without his coat, though he tried to hide that fact from Felicia. He relaxed more in the warmth of the movie theatre.

They bought tickets for some new action movie, each of them paying for their own tickets. Ludwig couldn't help but grimace at how empty his wallet was.

The movie had been pretty good, a fact that Felicia had agreed to afterwards, although Ludwig had caught her hiding her face during some of the gory parts of the movie. Overall, Ludwig had actually enjoyed the evening with Felicia, and was almost sad when they exited the theatre to see the redhead from earlier, Felicia's brother.

"Lovino!" Felicia sang, running to her brother and throwing her arms around him. The grumpy looking boy merely grumbled, pulling away from Felicia and practically shoving the girl's jacket at her. "You forgot this. Whose fucking jacket is that, anyways?"

"Oh!" Felicia said, spinning oh her heel and trotting back to Ludwig. "Fratello, this is my friend Ludwig. Remember him from earlier?" she asked brightly, as though the bullying incident hadn't been anything more than bumping into him at a restaurant.

Lovino's eyes narrowed at the reminder. "Sì, I remember…" he said bitterly. "Come on, Felicia, we have to go back to the house."

Felicia seemed to deflate a bit, and she shrug off Ludwig's jacket, handing it to Ludwig and smiling up at him. "Thank you, Ludwig." She said, unusually serious, her tone holding a deeper meaning that Ludwig did not understand. She pulled on her coat, waved, and then the two Italians disappeared out into the dark, where snowflakes were starting to swirl through the air.

Once Ludwig headed back into the cold night, he made it exactly 2.03 seconds before running into someone else he knew. This time, it was the Spanish girl Isabel. And he literally ran into her, too, nearly knocking the girl to the ground.

"Verdammt!" Ludwig said, cursing his own clumsiness. "I'm very sorry, Isabel, I didn't see you!" He steadied the Spaniard carefully.

"Don't worry about it. You must be Gilbert's baby brother." Isabel said. "I was just leaving. Do you need a ride?"

Ludwig hesitated. He almost refused, but the thought of walking home through the rapidly quickening snow was very unappealing, so instead he gave a slight nod. "Yes, that would be very nice." He said finally.

Isabel grinned, turning on a heel and heading to her car. "Don't worry, I dropped Gil off earlier so I know the way." She said as they ducked into the car. Isabel turned the car on quickly and turned up the heat. "Oh, and to formerly introduce myself, I'm Isabel Fernandéz Carriedo." She said.

"Ludwig Beilschmidt." Ludwig said, buckling his seatbelt.

The drive was filled with Isabel's quiet humming along to the radio, which was kept at a Spanish station. She pulled up to the house, and Ludwig climbed out, thanking the Spaniard profusely before closing the door. Isabel drove off and Ludwig headed up to the house, spotting the open kitchen window and climbing into the house with the ease of someone who had done so many times. Granted, it was harder now that he had hit his growth spurt and was now almost six feet tall and still growing, but he could still manage it with no more than a few bruises. Once actually inside the house, Ludwig crept past the living room and up the stairs, slipping into his room and making sure to look the door behind him this time.

"Hey there, little bro." Gilbert said, standing from the bed and crossing over to Ludwig. "Are you okay? Did Opa hurt you?"

"Nein, nein, I'm alright, bruder." Ludwig said to placate his older brother's fears. The albino nodded, and went back to sitting on his bed.

"You know that you're taller than me, you little shit." Gilbert said, laughing. "What did you do while you were 'kicked out'?"

"I went to town." Ludwig said. "When I was in the park, I ran into a classmate of mine. After that we went to see a movie." He said, looking away and hoping that the faint warmth in his cheeks was not showing on his face.

"Ooh!" Gilbert's red eyes lit up. "Like a date?!" The albino was practically bouncing on his bed in excitement while Ludwig scowled.

"Don't be so foolish, brother, you know that I don't date for a lot of the same reasons that you don't." Ludwig said, rolling his eyes.

"Ah, but a man can dream!" Gilbert flopped back on his bed, grinning. "I saw a fine piece of Hungarian ass today, though. Damn, that Home Ec. girl was beautiful. However—" Gilbert grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. "—the girl is deadly with a frying pan. Goddamn, she nearly knocked me out!"

Ludwig smiled, shaking his head at his brother's antics as he pulled off his shirt and changing into a pair of sweatpants, pulling back the covers. "Go to sleep, Gil, it's late." He said, climbing into bed and pulling the covers over himself.

"Ja, ja." Gilbert sighed, sliding into bed also. Ludwig leaned over, flipping the light switch by his bed and shrouding the room in darkness. He lay quietly in the dark until he heard Gilbert's breathing changed as the albino drifted off to sleep, then sat up, creeping across the floor and feeling blindly with his hands, until they encountered the soft fabric of his jacket. He got back into bed, pulling the jacket up to his face and buried his nose in the collar, eyes closed. It smelled like a combination of lavender, cinnamon, and warm brown sugar. It smelled like Felicia.

He clutched the jacket close to him, breathing in the warm scent and letting out a quiet sigh. With the sweet scent lingering in his senses, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the girl with red hair and eyes like honey.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Ludwig's mind felt foggy as he trudged up the street to the bus stop, his stomach reminding him that he hadn't eaten. Gilbert looked just as tired, and both held a rather disheveled appearance. Luckily, the bus pulled up not long after they got to the stop, and the two brothers were spared having to stand out in the light dusting of snow. The faint smell of Felicia still hung in the air around Ludwig, and the faint scent made him feel calmer as he boarded the bus.

The bus ride was mercifully silent; Gilbert evidently didn't have the energy to talk his younger brother's ear off quite yet. Ludwig leaned his head against the cold window, his eyes only half open as the bus bounced happily along.

"Oh, Ludwig-san!" a voice called as he got off the bus. Ludwig half turned to see the Japanese boy, Kiku, if he remembered correctly, jogging up to where he was standing.

"Good morning Kiku." Ludwig said politely, pausing while Kiku caught his breath. "Are you alright?"

"Hai, I am okay, Ludwig-san." Kiku said, straightening. "I just was curious about whether you know how Felicia-chan was injured."

"Injured?" Ludwig said in bewilderment, then realized. "Oh, you mean the bruise on her cheek? She was running and fell into something. A tree in the park, I believe she said." Ludwig nodded to himself, thinking back to the night before.

When Ludwig looked back at Kiku, he saw a strange look glittering in the smaller boy's otherwise expressionless eyes. Kiku shook his head. "Ludwig-san that is not what I mean." Kiku said, before giving a polite bow and hurrying away.

A feeling akin to fear coiled itself in Ludwig's gut, and he subconsciously sped up, weaving a way between other students, squeezing between gaps and searching, searching, for that bright red hair. All the while, a feeling of panic and fear continued to grow in his stomach. Where was she?

Finally, he found her, tucked away into a corner of the cafeteria with her face hidden in her knees. He approached her slowly and kneeled before her, reaching out and touching her gently. She flinched at his touch and didn't look up.

"Hi Ludwig." Felicia said, her voice muffled by her knees, and she tightened herself further, trying to hide from Ludwig's gaze.

"Are you okay, Felicia?" Ludwig tugged gently on her arms, trying to pull them away from her face, trying to get her to look at him. She resisted his efforts with a small whine.

"Felicia, what's wrong? What happened to you?" Ludwig asked, that strange fear still curling in his belly. "Please Felicia, will you just look at me?"

Silence fell between them for a long moment, and Ludwig shifted a bit, trying to get comfortable as the silence wore on. Finally, after a minute or two passed in quiet, Felicia spoke up, her voice quiet and deadly calm.

"Promise you won't say anything." She whispered.

"I promise." Ludwig said, heart beating faster in fearful anticipation.

Felicia lifted her head, looking Ludwig straight in the face, and the blonde student bit back a startled exclamation. Felicia's lovely fair skinned face was mottled with very light, but still visible, bruising on one side, the same side with the bruised cheekbone. Her lower lip was split, and her eyes were red rimmed, as though she had spent the entire night crying her heart out. Carefully, Ludwig reached over, brushing one hand over Felicia's bruises, touching his thumb to her split lip.

"I-I fell down the stairs when I got home." Felicia said, her voice still not rising above a whisper, her teary honey eyes gazing into Ludwig's.

Ludwig bit his lip. Those are not the kinds of bruises one gets by falling down the stairs. He should know, his Opa had shoved him down a flight once. But Felicia had made him promise not to say anything, so he merely nodded, forced to accept it.

"What are you doing?" a hostile voice asked, and Ludwig looked up from his kneeling position to see Lovino scowling down at him, a breakfast tray in one hand.

Ludwig pulled his hand away from Felicia's face and scrambled to his feet, so that he was looking down at the shorter Italian. "I was talking to your sister." He said in way of explanation, shrugging.

"Well don't." Lovino snarled, his green eyes spitting fire at Ludwig.

"Fratello—" Felicia tried to cut in, but Lovino ignored her.

"I had better not catch you with your hands on mia sorellina, any part of her, ever again." Lovino snapped angrily, not intimidated by Ludwig's superior height.

Ludwig was on the brink of arguing, of saying that Lovino could not tell Felicia who she could or could not see, but one look at the redheaded girl's tear streaked face changed his mind. He knew that Felicia probably didn't need anymore drama in her life. So he merely nodded his head before moving away, in the opposite direction of the Italian siblings.

"Where the hell did you run off to, Lud?" Gilbert asked, slinging his arm around Ludwig's shoulders.

"Nowhere." Ludwig said, almost without conscious thought. He could just see Felicia, still sitting in the corner with her brother next to her, sharing the food off of the breakfast tray.

A sudden impact with his shoulder sent both Beilschmidt brothers stumbling. Ludwig turned to glare over his shoulder at the offender, and his blue eyes met Ivan Braginski's deep violet ones, and an involuntary shiver ran down his spine as Ivan gave a smile filled with childish malice. Ludwig could not see anything but those violet eyes that glittered with hatred and were as cold as the most freezing winter snowstorm.

Ivan broke their gaze, continuing down the hall as if nothing had happened, and Ludwig faced forward again, a feeling of dread curling sickeningly in his gut.

"Lud?" Gilbert poked his little brother. "Are you okay, bruder? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

At this remark, Ludwig let out a small laugh. "More like the devil." He replied, earning a laugh as the reached the junction where they would split up to go their separate classes. Gilbert released Ludwig and trotted off down the hallway, leaving the younger to rub at his sore neck as he turned towards his next class.

When he entered his first block, Felicia was already there, sitting hunched in her seat and staring determinedly at her notebook. She didn't look up as Ludwig approached, and the latter decided to sit next to Kiku again, sliding into his seat next to the stoic Japanese boy.

The class dragged on, and Ludwig would swear that his stomach was going to digest itself, it was so empty. Then, his stomach rumbled, quite loudly, and Ludwig was mortified at the angry sound, pressing his hand to the offending organ. Kiku slid him an amused look from the corner of his eye, and next thing Ludwig knew, the shorter boy was slipping a granola bar onto his lap. Ludwig shot Kiku a grateful look as he tore the wrapper open, eating the granola bar as quietly as humanly possible, sighing at the feeling of something in his previously empty stomach. He wasn't full, but it would be enough to tide him over for a few hours.

When the bell rang, Kiku gave Ludwig a sympathetic smile. "Why don't you sit with me at lunch today, Ludwig-san? If you don't have other plans, of course."

"Oh, um, thank you, Kiku." Ludwig said, slightly confused at the invitation. "I don't have any plans, so I'll see you at lunch."

"Hai." Kiku confirmed with a nod, slinging his bag over his shoulder and leaving the room.

Ludwig headed to his next class, pondering the Japanese boy's invitation. Had Ludwig actually managed to make a friend for the first time in his life? It certainly appeared that way. When he entered his second class, his heart suddenly dropped to his toes. Yesterday, he had been too busy on catching up with the class to notice it, but suddenly, the student in the second row of the class was agonizingly familiar. Yesterday, he had admired the girl's silvery blonde wave of hair, but now the sight filled him with dread. It was Natalya.

The rather petite girl ignored him, and Ludwig, who had no choice but to pass her to reach his seat, decided to do so quickly. Not quick enough, apparently. Natalya's foot flew out with blinding speed, and Ludwig tripped, falling into several desks before faceplanting on the floor. He could hear the class laughing.

"Ouch." Ludwig muttered as he climbed to his feet, feeling hot stickiness under his nose. The fingers he touched to it came away red.

"Ludwig, you'd better go visit the nurse." Mr. Wang, the strangely androgynous math teacher, pressed tissues into Ludwig's hand as he scribbled out a note before handing that to Ludwig as well.

"Yes sir." Ludwig said, casting a dark glare at Natalya as he passed her, making sure to keep well out of range of her feet. The blonde merely gave him a victorious smile as he left the room.

The nurse's office was empty, aside from the nurse, a Greek descent woman with a kind smile, and Felicia and Lovino. The pretty girl was hovering anxiously around her brother as the nurse gently cleaned Lovino's busted knuckles. Ludwig drew back, not wanting to call attention to his arrival.

"One day, you'll learn that hitting walls isn't good for you." The nurse sighed, still with that kind smile, dabbing at the split knuckles carefully. Lovino merely grumbled, but he didn't really seem angry with the kind hearted woman.

"I was angry…" Lovino said, and his voice lacked the normal anger that Ludwig had come to expect from the boy.

"Yes, what else is new?" the nurse said, a chuckle in her voice as she wrapped the Italian's hand in gauze. "And how are you, Felicia? Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm okay." Felicia said, giving a winning smile despite the pale bruising decorating half of her face. The nurse smiled gently, slipping an ice pack into Felicia's hand and guiding her to hold it to the bruising.

Ludwig reentered the room, clearing his throat and still holding the bloody tissues to his nose. The nurse jumped right up, pulling Ludwig in and sitting him down. "Hello sweetie, I'm Nurse Demeter. What happened?"

Ludwig opened his mouth to say that he'd been tripped, but found himself changing his story at the last second. "I fell." He said, voice stuffy sounding around the tissues.

From the corner of his eye, Ludwig caught Felicia giving him a strange look, but then the nurse was pulling the tissues away from his nose to inspect the damage.

"It doesn't look like your nose is broken." Nurse Demeter said, touching his nose gently. "And it isn't swelling either. It looks like you may have smacked it just hard enough to make it bleed." She concluded.

"Great." Ludwig sighed. The nurse smiled indulgently, moving to her desk and filling beginning to fill out a form.

"Is there anyone you'd like me to call?" she asked, glancing at him.

"No!" Ludwig hadn't meant to shout, but the last thing he needed was them to call his Opa. He'd be in so much trouble when he got home if they did, and wasn't really ready to spend another few hours avoiding home.

"Alright." The nurse said, looking slightly taken aback at his outburst. She finished filling out the form and filed it away. "Just stay here until the bleeding stops, okay?"

"Yes ma'am." Ludwig said, switching out his tissues for fresh ones. He settled back into his seat.

Lovino hopped off of his own chair, Felicia following barely a second later. "Can I go now?" the older Italian asked, glancing at the nurse. She gave him a nod of consent, and the two redheads booked it from the room, Felicia sparing a quick glance over her shoulder at Ludwig as they passed him.

.-.-.-.-.-.

When lunch rolled around, Ludwig made his way into the cafeteria empty handed. He glanced around before he spotted Kiku sitting at a table with two brunette girls and a sleepy looking brunette boy. Hesitantly, Ludwig sat next to Kiku.

"Hello, Ludwig-san." Kiku said with a smile, inclining his head politely. "These are my friends. Elizaveta-chan, Xiao Mei-chan, and Heracles-kun."

"Call me Mei, it'll simplify your life." The darker haired brunette, evidently of Asian descent, smiled at him.

"And you can call me either Eliza or Lizzie." Elizaveta said, words accented with a dialect that Ludwig instantly recognized as Hungarian.

"Oh!" he said in sudden understanding. "You're the girl who hit my brother in the head with the frying pan, aren't you?"

Eliza gave a laugh at this. "So Gilbert is your brother, huh? Yeah, I hit him alright." Her smile changed to a scowl. "The pervert was trying to cop a feel…" she said bitterly, scowling across the cafeteria at Gilbert's distinct white hair.

"Ludwig-san, I asked you to sit with us for a reason." Kiku spoke up suddenly, his expressionless eyes serious. "Please forgive me for being blunt. You don't have a good home life, do you?"

Ludwig felt his eyes widen, and panic swooped in his stomach. "H-How do you know…?" he asked, his voice coming out slightly strangled.

Kiku looked down at his lunch tray. "I lived in an abusive home for seven years, until my mother was imprisoned. After that, my father and I moved away. It was a very hard time for both of us."

Ludwig looked at the smaller student with revelation. Humble, polite Kiku had probably turned out that way because of an abusive mother. For the first time, Ludwig knew that someone understood what he had been through. Kiku unfolded a napkin, placing half of his sandwich on it, and sliding it across the table to sit in front of Ludwig.

Before Ludwig could open his mouth to say anything, his voice died and he could only stare as Eliza passed him a bag of chips, and Mei tossed him an orange. Ludwig was at a loss for words, but Mei and Eliza both gave him an understanding smile.

A flash of red caught Ludwig's eye, and he turned, reaching out his hand subconsciously as Felicia passed him, catching her small wrist in his hand. The redhead spun around, eyes wide and terrified for a moment before she seemed to recognize who had grabbed her.

"My goodness, you scared me, Ludwig!" Felicia gasped, breathless in her fright, an embarrassed flush on her cheeks.

"My apologies." Ludwig said, pressing the orange into Felicia's hand and releasing her wrist, turning back to the others with his heart pounding and face feeling hot. He heard Felicia continue on her way after a moment.

"Are you alright, Ludwig-san?" Kiku asked.

"He's fine." Eliza said, as she and Mei exchanged a knowing smile.

"In all seriousness, I am worried for Felicia." Ludwig said, his voice a low rumble as that now-familiar concern curled in his gut. "All of those bruises… You don't get bruises like those from falling down the stairs, believe me. I think…"

"She's being abused." Mei said softly, brown eyes sad as she watched Felicia's retreating figure.

Ludwig nodded. "Yes."


	4. Chapter 4

Like the day before, Ludwig came across Felicia and Lovino, pinned to the locker sets by Ivan, Natalya, and Sadiq. The three Hasser members didn't even need to hit the two cornered Italians. They simply made a wall around them, and Felicia's bruised face could barely be seen peeking around the three bullies before her.

"Verdammt, can't you just leave them alone?!" Ludwig snapped, stomping over to them and physically shoving slight Natalya away angrily. "For Gott's sake, what have these two ever done to you?!"

"Well, they exist, first of all." Ivan said with a dark smirk, extending his hand to Natalya and helping her up. "Which is a privilege that will soon be revoked from you, I'm afraid." he took a step towards Ludwig, and Ludwig swallowed hard.

"_Don't touch him_!" came a shout, and a white blur rocketed between. Gilbert, shorter even then Ludwig, boldly got up in Ivan's face. It took Ludwig's startled mind to realize that his brother had been speaking German.

Grabbing his brother's shoulders, Ludwig tried to wrestle his brother away. "Bruder, please get out of this!" he hissed into the albino's ear. "You know that if you get into a fight, Opa might actually kill you!"

"Back off, Lud!" Gilbert snapped, his gaze never leaving the Russian's. Natalya, unseen by either Beilschmidt brothers, snuck up and slammed a pointed elbow into Gilbert's side.

Gilbert yelped, and a second later he turned on her. Ludwig knew all too well that Gilbert had no problems hitting a girl, but Ludwig had slightly more morals than his brother, and he grabbed Gilbert before his brother's fist could connect. With all three Hasser's attention focused on Ludwig and Gilbert, Lovino grabbed Felicia's hand and dragged the lovely girl from the school. Ludwig pushed his brother ahead of him, following the Vargas' example and fleeing from the school.

Not quick enough, unfortunately.

Ivan's fist connected just between Ludwig's shoulder blades, pushing the air from his lungs and causing him to stumble. As Ludwig stumbled, Sadiq kicked a well aimed foot at Ludwig's knees, knocking the blond to the ground. It was at that moment when Ivan slammed his large boot into Ludwig's ribs.

Ludwig seriously thought that he was going to die for a moment. Try as he might, he could not draw any air into his lungs, and his side was on fire. He had had the wind knocked out of him before, but it still wrought the fear of suffocation, of death, no matter how many times he experienced it. Eventually, he was able to draw a trickle of air into his lungs, and he choked on it. Before he could recover, Gilbert grabbed his hand, hauling Ludwig to his feet and pulling the blonde out of the school. They ran all the way to the student parking lot, Ludwig's lungs, side, and back all screaming.

"Holy fuck..." Gilbert gasped, hands on his knees. Ludwig merely panted, arms wrapped around his chest to keep his heart from exploding from his chest.

"G-Gil, we missed the bus." Ludwig gasped, wincing.

"Who cares about the goddamn bus?! Lud, are you okay?! That Ivan creep kicked you hard..." Gilbert's crimson eyes glimmered with concern, seeing how Ludwig nursed his injured side.

"Ja, ja, I'll be fine." Ludwig let out a pained laugh. "I've taken harder hits before. Ivan's got nothing on Opa." he said confidently to reassure his brother, straightening and biting his lip as his kicked ribs pulled.

"I know, but still... Seriously, Lud, you could have broken your ribs. You should see a doctor." Gilbert said, still looking rather concerned.

"I'm fine, bruder..." Ludwig said with a sigh. "Although I think I may join a gym..." he grumbled to himself, making Gilbert smile. "Anyways, how will we get home? It'll take awhile if we try to walk."

"This car is Francis's." Gil said. "He already said he'd drive me home. It shouldn't be any trouble for you to ride along, too."

At that moment, Francis approached, chattering flirtatiously with a couple girls from their school. The girls departed to their own vehicles rather reluctantly, and Francis approached them with smile on his face.

"Bonjour, mon ami!" he fairly gushed to Gilbert, who merely rolled his eyes, laughing.

"Save it for your girlfriends." he told Francis with a smirk. "Anyways, where were all of the goddamn teachers?!" Gilbert cried, turning to Ludwig. "For Gott's sake, isn't their job to PREVENT things like this from happening?!"

"Gilbert, please." Ludwig said, trying to calm his brother. "You're calling attention to us. Knock it off and stop acting like a kind, a child."

"Sorry Lud, I'm just pissed." Gilbert grumbled. "Are you sure you feel okay, Lud? We really could take you to the doctor or something..."

"What happened?" Francis asked, blue violet eyes flickering between the two brothers.

"Nothing." both Ludwig and Gilbert spoke at the same time.

"Anyways, can you give Lud a ride home too, Francis?" Gilbert asked of his friend. "He missed the bus, and it'd take forever for him to walk, and you're already driving me home." he said, raising his pale eyebrows.

"I don't mind, but we have to wait for Isabel. I owe her a ride too." Francis said, making a face. "Damn Spaniard is never on time..."

"Says who?" Isabel said with a mock scowl as she approached. "Keep your pants on, Francis, I'm here now." she said, winking at him.

"One does not simply to the fabulous moi to keep his pants on~" Francis declared, climbing into the driver's seat. "Especially not you, Isabel. You know if I was taking them off for anyone it's be-"

"OI!" Gilbert bellowed. "My baby brother is RIGHT HERE, and he does NOT need to hear this!" he cried, shooting a rather apologetic look at Ludwig, who felt his face warming in a blush from the very awkward conversation.

Isabel burst out laughing, along with Francis. They tried to apologize, but they simply couldn't speak through their laughing. Ludwig grit his teeth and climbed into the passenger seat. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long ride home.

-.-.-.-.-.-

When Francis dropped Ludwig off, Gilbert left with the Frenchman, saying something about catching a movie with Isabel and Francis. Ludwig watched them drive off with a feeling of relief, and turned to the house. He scarcely made it through the front door before he was confronted by Opa, who was drunk and unshaven as usual, and wobbling on his feet.

"Opa?" Ludwig asked in confusion. "_What are you doing awake?" _ he asked in low German.

"_You... got a phone call, Failure." _Opa slurred, gesturing towards the phone and almost falling in his drunken stupor. "_Some girl." _he squinted, peering at Ludwig through blurry eyes.

"_Yes, I see. Thank you, Opa." _Ludwig said, never directly meeting Opa's eyes in fear of enraging the man. Opa merely grunted and shuffled into his bedroom, which was on the ground floor. As soon as the older man was out of sight, Ludwig hurried to the phone.

Opa had somehow had the insight to scrawl the callback number on a post-it and left it on the wall by the phone. Ludwig cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear as he listened to the phone ringing. After a moment, a pleasant, lilting female voice was on the other end of the line.

"Ciao?" Felicia asked.

"H-Hello, Felicia." Ludwig stuttered slightly. "My Opa told me that you had called." Ludwig cringed internally. Felicia had been on the phone with his drunken grandfather, and it was always so obvious that Opa was drunk... He hoped very deeply that Opa had not been rude to the pretty Italian.

"Hi Ludwig~" Felicia said cheerfully. A shout sounded on the other end of the line, and Felicia let out a barely audible squeak. When she spoke next, she sound rather subdued. "I was calling to thank you." she said.

"Thank me? What for?" Ludwig asked. His sore ribs twinged, and he placed a hand over the afflicted area.

"You were so brave, standing up to those bullies like that." Felicia breathed, and Ludwig could hear the childlike wonder in her voice, and he could almost picture her sparkling honey eyes. "Your brother was, too. Neither of you got hurt by Ivan and them, did you?" she sounded rather fearful here.

"Ja, we're both fine." Ludwig said. "The Hasser didn't lay a finger on us."

"Hasser?" she sounded confused.

"Translated as Haters." Ludwig explained. "I'm sorry, I forget that not many people here actually speak German." he said, face-palming.

"It's okay." Felicia said, and Ludwig could hear the smile in her voice.

"Oi! Mistake, get off the line!" A deep male voice bellowed from Felicia's end of the line, and Ludwig cringed, years of hearing the familiar-yet-different tone making him automatically aim his eyes downwards, hunching his shoulders.

"I-I have to go..." Felicia fairly whimpered into the line.

"Okay. I'll talk to you tomo-" The line went dead before he could finish, and Ludwig hung up the phone.

Mistake. Someone, Felicia's father if Ludwig had to hazard a guess, had degraded the lovely Italian girl with a dehumanizing nickname just as Opa had christened Ludwig and Gilbert both as "Failure." It was an area in which Ludwig could understand and sympathize with Felicia completely, and it only furthered his thoughts that Felicia, like him, was being abused in her home life.

On the other hand, for the first time in years, Ludwig had had a successful conversation with a female who wasn't related to him. Normally, he blushed and stammered, tripping over his own words and sometimes even his own two feet. He was a terrible person to be allowed around ladies, and he knew it.

Stuck in the house with nothing to do, Ludwig wandered upstairs and flopped on his bed, face down. However, he ended up curled on his side to avoid aggravating his wounded ribs, which were hurting more than he was expecting. With nothing to do to occupy his time (Opa didn't have a TV or radio, and Ludwig couldn't concentrate enough to read), and soon Ludwig's eyes drifted closed.


End file.
